Analytics & Stats ATP US Open
Sinner: Predictability Cost Me in US Open Final as Cahill Reveals Djokovic’s Counsel
Sinner accepts predictability after US Open final; Cahill shares Djokovic’s detailed critique today
Jannik Sinner conceded a central weakness after his US Open final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz, admitting elements of his game are predictable and will require change. The admission echoed advice Novak Djokovic offered earlier through Darren Cahill after their Wimbledon meeting, a conversation Cahill described in detail on the Served podcast.
“One of the players that I tapped on the shoulder — he (Sinner) lost to Novak a couple of years ago at Wimbledon in five sets. Won the first two sets, Novak came back and ran away with it,” explained the Australian, in an appearance on the Served podcast.
“Novak got used to his ball, got used to the shape, got used to the pace and then just locked in, like Novak does, and doesn’t miss. And won the last three sets reasonably easily.
“And I saw Novak, and he’s always great with this, he’s always been incredible when you tap him on the shoulder. And I said, ‘Hey listen, I’ve just started with Jannik, don’t tell me anything you don’t want to tell me, but can I ask what you were feeling out there?’ And he was incredible.
“He basically said, ‘Hey listen. Good luck with working with him. Hits the ball great, but there’s no variation. So you know, there’s no shape on his shot. There’s no height over the net. Doesn’t come to the net. He’s not trying to bring me in, I know that he returns well, but he’s not attacking my serve on the return of serve.
“So he went through his whole game and broke it down. It wasn’t like it was revelations to what we didn’t know about Jannik and what we were trying to change in his game.
“But when you take that conversation and sit down with a young man like Jannik Sinner and say,’ Hey, listen, I just spoke to Novak and this is what he thinks’, that leaves a big impression on a young player. So for Jannik it’s: ‘Right, give it to me. Let’s start doing these changes’.”
Cahill says those changes produced notable gains: Sinner and his team went on to win four Grand Slam titles and Sinner rose to No 1 in the ATP Rankings. Yet the US Open final loss to Alcaraz suggested the rivalry has shifted, with Alcaraz now the target Sinner must chase after improving following his own defeat to Sinner at Wimbledon.
Sinner did not shy from assessment after the match. “I was very predictable today,” conceded Sinner. “He did many things, he changed up the game. That’s also his style of how he plays now it’s gonna be on me if I want to make changes or not, you know, so that’s definitely, we are gonna work on that. Trying to be more prepared for the next match, what I will play against him.
“It also, I feel like, depends how you arrive to play against Carlos. You know, one thing is when the scoreline matches before it’s comfortable. But you always do the same things, you know, like I did, for example, during this tournament.
“I didn’t make one volley, you know, I didn’t use a lot of drop shots. And then you arrive to a point where you play against Carlos when, where you have to go out of the comfort zone so I’m gonna aim to, you know, maybe even losing some matches from now on, but trying to do some changes, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player and because I think that’s what I have to do, trying to become a better tennis player.”
Sinner also hinted at the need to improve net play and add consistency to his first serve. He remained composed after the loss but acknowledged that only an upgraded all-court game will close the gap with his chief rival.
Analytics & Stats ATP
Djokovic Sets New Standard with 860 Weeks in ATP Top 5
Novak Djokovic begins his record 860th week in the ATP Top 5, overtaking Roger Federer’s mark. Now.
Novak Djokovic has extended his dominance in the ATP rankings by beginning his 860th career week inside the Top 5, a mark that moves him past Roger Federer’s previous record of 859 weeks.
The player currently listed at No. 4 on the rankings reached the milestone this week, adding another long-term statistical achievement to a resume already dense with records. Official ATP rankings began in August of 1973, and Djokovic’s run now stands as the most career weeks in the Top 5 in ATP history.
The scale of his consistency is underlined by where those weeks were spent. Of the 860 Top 5 weeks, Djokovic has occupied the No. 1 position for 428 weeks, the clear lead in ATP rankings history. Federer is next with 310 weeks at No. 1.
Breaking that total down further highlights Djokovic’s sustained excellence: 49.8 percent of his Top 5 weeks (428) were at No. 1. He has spent 599 weeks in the Top 2, representing 69.7 percent of his Top 5 span. His time in the Top 3 totals 764 weeks, or 88.8 percent, and he has held a Top 4 position for 823 weeks, equal to 95.7 percent of his Top 5 weeks.
Those numbers reflect a career defined by long stretches at the very top of the sport rather than brief spikes. Reaching 860 weeks in the Top 5 is a cumulative testament to performance across seasons and surfaces, and it establishes a new benchmark for longevity among the modern era’s leading players.
Roger Federer’s long-standing record of 859 weeks has now been overtaken, and the milestone underscores the extraordinary durability of Djokovic’s presence among the elite. And there’s another record on the horizon, too.
Analytics & Stats Finals
No. 1 Seeds Extend Streak to Seven Straight WTA Titles
No. 1 seeds have won seven straight WTA events, compiling a 35-0 run across seven weeks. Remarkable.
Elena Rybakina defeated Karolina Muchova to claim the Stuttgart crown, 7-5, 6-1, and Marta Kostyuk beat Veronika Podrez for the Rouen title, 6-3, 6-4. Those finals completed another chapter in an unusual run on the women’s tour: top seeds have won the last seven WTA events in a row.
The run began in early March with Aryna Sabalenka at Indian Wells and has continued through seven tournaments and seven weeks. Top seeds are 35-0 over the last seven weeks at WTA events: Sabalenka 6-0 at Indian Wells and 6-0 in Miami; Pegula 5-0 in Charleston; Bouzkova 5-0 in Bogota; Andreeva 4-0 in Linz; Rybakina 4-0 in Stuttgart; and Kostyuk 5-0 in Rouen.
Those 35 consecutive wins did not all come without drama. In the first tournament of the streak, Indian Wells, Sabalenka faced a match point against Rybakina down 6-5 in the third-set tie-break in the final before sneaking out the win, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6). In Stuttgart, Rybakina saved two match points in the third set, one down 5-4 and another down 6-5 in the breaker, to survive Leylah Fernandez in the quarterfinals, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (6).
There were also a string of three-set victories elsewhere, including several from Pegula in Charleston before she closed out that event in straight sets. At each tournament the top seed has reached the finish line, producing an unbroken run of title-clinching performances by No. 1 seeds across the most recent slate of WTA events.
CHAMPIONS AT THE LAST SEVEN WTA EVENTS:
Analytics & Stats
Cirstea reaches 20 tour-level wins faster than ever in final season
Cirstea reached 20 tour-level wins in 2026 faster than ever, after announcing 2026 as her last year
Sorana Cirstea reached a career milestone on Friday night, logging her 20th tour-level victory of 2026 and doing so earlier in the season than at any point in her two-decade career. The achievement came amid a campaign that has grown stronger since she announced in the off-season that 2026 would be her final year on tour.
Cirstea recorded the landmark win by defeating Anna Bondar 7-6 (2), 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the clay-court event in Rouen, France. That victory pushed her to 20 tour-level victories for the season faster than she ever previously managed. Her prior earliest 20th win came in 2013, when she reached the mark during the grass-court season in Birmingham.
The Romanian’s form this year has been notable. Now 20-6 in 2026, Cirstea has advanced to her second WTA semifinal of the season. Earlier in the year she captured the fourth WTA title of her career at the indoor hard-court event in Cluj-Napoca, Romania in February, which was also her first career WTA title on home soil. Observers traced the momentum back to a strong second half of 2025, after which she made the decision to make 2026 her swan song on the circuit.
The Rouen quarterfinal win underlined a consistency that has defined Cirstea’s campaign: effective conversion of tight moments, shown in a first-set tiebreak, followed by a more decisive second set. The result keeps her on course for another deep run at the clay-court event and extends a season that has already produced a title, multiple semifinals and a personal-best pace to 20 tour-level victories.
As the season unfolds, Cirstea’s earlier-than-ever arrival at this milestone will remain one of the defining storylines of her final year on tour.
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